Comedy / Film & TV
Tim Robinson
born 1981 · comedian, actor, writer
Creator of I Think You Should Leave and co-creator of Detroiters, born in Detroit to a Chrysler employee, raised in Waterford and trained at The Second City Detroit.
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Tim Robinson was born in Detroit in 1981; his mother worked for Chrysler and his father in construction. He grew up in suburban Waterford Township and graduated from Clarkston High School in 2000. After seeing a Second City show in Chicago as a teenager he signed up for weekend improv classes at the company's Detroit branch, went on to its touring company and performed at Hamtramck's Planet Ant Theatre before moving to Second City's Chicago mainstage. In 2012 he joined Saturday Night Live, first as a featured player and then as a writer. With his best friend and fellow Detroiter Sam Richardson he created Detroiters (2017–2018) for Comedy Central, a love letter to the city's low-budget local TV commercials, shot on location around Detroit. His Netflix sketch show I Think You Should Leave (2019–2023), with its hot-dog-suit meme, won him two Emmys. He has since starred in the film Friendship and the HBO series The Chair Company.
Highlights
- Created I Think You Should Leave (2019–2023); Emmys in 2022 and 2023
- Co-created and starred in Detroiters (2017–2018), filmed in Detroit
- Saturday Night Live cast member and writer (2012–2016)
- Trained at The Second City Detroit; Clarkston High School class of 2000
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · until 2000
Clarkston High School
Public high school serving Clarkston and Independence Township; Robinson graduated in 2000, the year after it moved to this site.
Studied here · late 1990s–2000s
The Second City Detroit
Closed · 1993–2005
Detroit branch of the Chicago improv theater, by the Fox Theatre; Robinson took weekend classes here and joined its touring company. It moved to Novi in 2005 and later closed.
Performed here · 2000s
Planet Ant Theatre
Hamtramck black-box theater and improv school that counts Robinson among the actors who started there.